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Posted by Phil Holland on 05/26/2009

There's only one place to start and that's to offer congratulations to Burnley who won the Championship play-off final at Wembley on Monday to seal promotion to the Premier League and a return to the top flight after a 33-year absence.

Understandably the UK's papers are full of coverage, with The Times leading with the £60m windfall that winning promotion to the Premier League brings with it.

But it wasn't all good news; no sooner had the final whistle gone than Burnley manager Owen Coyle was having to answer questions about his future.

With news filtering through that Gordon Strachan had quit as Celtic manager, Coyle was asked to clarify his future. Depending on what paper you read he either did or didn't.

In the Daily Mirror Colye insisted he was not interested in becoming the next Celtic boss, and in the Daily Express insisted he would stay loyal to Burnley, but the Daily Star claim that he refused to rule out quitting for Celtic.

The Independent take a nice compare and contrast line, pointing out that as Burnley were celebrating their return to top-flight football for the first time since 1976 and the £60m windfall that comes with it, Newcastle were assessing the alarming cost of dropping into the Championship.

Newcastle dominate the papers, with Alan Shearer's future the focus of much coverage.

The Sun and Mirror say Shearer will be offered a four-year deal to become Newcastle boss full-time.

Elsewhere the Star report that Shearer will be told today that Newcastle's wage bill must be slashed by £30m to save the club from financial disaster. The Daily Express agree and report that "the fire sale is on" at Newcastle with 15 of the club's top earners set to be ditched following relegation.

On the eve of the Champions League final there is plenty of preview coverage of Barcelona's showdown in Rome with Manchester United.

The Independent report that Rio Ferdinand is still confident he will play in tomorrow's game despite missing United's final Premier League game against Hull City on Sunday where he was meant to prove his fitness.

In the Daily Express Dimitar Berbatov is said to be set to decline the chance to be a shoot-out hero if the Champions League final goes to penalties tomorrow. The Bulgarian is said to be haunted by his FA Cup semi-final miss against Everton.

The Daily Mail report that the Barcelona players have singled out Wayne Rooney is the player they fear most, not Cristiano Ronaldo.

And finally, let's round-up the transfer speculation. The Star reckon Manchester City and Spurs are in a £12m head-to-head battle for Gareth Barry, the Mirror say Arsenal have made an £8m bid for Fulham centre-back Brede Hangeland and in the Sun Man United full-back Patrice Evra is trying to persuade Bayern Munich midfielder Franck Ribery to come to Old Trafford.

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